Teacher to:

• explain to students that they will re-watch the first video showing Lisa and Emma reading their book in order to think about their performance
• ask students to recall what they liked about the performance from the first time they watched it
• introduce some or all of the dramatic elements for students to observe and think about (refer to ‘Teaching notes’).

Students to:

• discuss how Lisa and Emma used dramatic elements to improve their performance
• break into their pairs and rehearse their play trying to use some of the ideas from the video to enhance their performance
• create a final version of their play and record it using digital technologies
• present their work to a wider audience outside the classroom, either as live performances during an assembly or in digital form through the school newsletter or school intranet.

Students will have the opportunity to evaluate their play by comparing it to the performance of Lisa Shanahan and Emma Quay reading their book. Students will then finalise their play and present it to an audience outside of the classroom. This opportunity to present their work to a wider audience is an important part of this unit as it helps to make the work meaningful to students.

The key dramatic elements that will help students refine their work, as present in the video, are:

• tension
• timing
• mood
• sound.

The dramatic elements are described in a variety of ways, this resource has relied on information from:

• The dramatic elements page on 'The Drama Teacher'
• Drama strategies page on 'Drama Resource'
• Practical advice for successful drama teaching

Completing this activity affords students the opportunity to:

• recognise that there are different kinds of texts when reading and viewing and shows an awareness of purpose, audience and subject matter (EN1-8B)
• think imaginatively and creatively about familiar topics, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts (EN1-10C)
• take on roles in drama to explore familiar and imagined situations (DRAS1.1)
• convey story, depicts events and expresses feelings by using the elements of drama and the expressive skills of movement and voice (DRAS1.2)
• appreciate dramatic work during the making of their own drama and the drama of others (DRAS1.4).